Blog

Hi all. I know I haven't posted a blog in eons, but, as usual, I've been running around trying to do it all.

My focus has been my screenplays, and I'm really happy to report that my most recent screenplay, TILLIE, placed as a finalist in a competition. That was gratifying, considering it took about two years of my life to complete it. That said, other than writing my screenplay, my freelance work in Tokyo included working on a feature-length motion picture and performing at a 5-star hotel.

For me, one of the best things about living and working in Tokyo has been the unique opportunity to discover my strengths. I would have never thought I could do screenwriting when I first came here 24 years ago. But circumstances led me to it, and I can say that it has now become my "calling."

I was interviewed today for an upcoming (hopefully) review of FIT in Metropolis, one of Tokyo's oldest English-language weeklies (print, and now online). The interviewer had carefully prepared her questions and it was a great morning in which I was able to share what I thought was of value for those who continue to define themselves as freelancers in T-town.

I arrived in Tokyo on April 1, 1993. I was thrilled beyond belief. I had been to Japan twice before, once in 1988 when I was a musician on Royal Viking Cruises, again in 1989 as a pianist working at one of the last Playboy Clubs in the world (located in Roppongi). I had had a taste of the unusual, the bizarre, the beautiful, the strange, the enchanting... and more. I knew I wanted to return.

I brought USD $8,000 with me, because I already knew that in order to "purchase a phone line" (that's what you had to do back then) and rent an apartment, I would have to shell out a lot of money. I did. I went through every conceivable emotion as I grappled with setting up my new life. Check them off the list: living in a 6 tatami-mat room and sleeping on a thin futon; struggling to get a visa sponsor; fighting homesickness; being shocked at the price of food; loving and hating everything at the same time; getting my own apartment (I was told that the landlord was "not a racist," so there wouldn't be any problem), and any other misadventure a gaijin could have. Finally, after about eight months of doing anything I could think of to make everything come together, I was "legally" in Japan and able to start my new life.

When I first created FIT, my idea is that a community of like-minded freelancers would contribute ideas, suggestions, websites and more to support a "community" that would meet on a monthly basis and help to expand opportunities for all. I worked very hard to create that and in the beginning it was fun. But as I was the one coordinating everything, it eventually became too much and/or I didn't see the interest that I had hoped I would.